''Captive Hearts, Captive Minds: Freedom and Recovery from Cults and Other Abusive Relationships'' is a study of

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal ...

s and abusive relationships by Madeleine Landau Tobias,

Janja Lalich Janja Lalich (b. 1945) is an American sociologist and writer. Lalich is best known as a foremost expert on cults and coercion, charismatic authority, power relations, ideology and social control. She is a professor emerita of sociology at the ...

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

, and

Michael Langone Michael D. Langone (born 1947) is an American counseling psychologist who specializes in research about cultic groups and psychological manipulation. He is executive director of the International Cultic Studies Association, and founding editor o ...

. It was published by

Hunter House Publishers Hunter House Publishers was a publishing company based in Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for " tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, located in the East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is primarily located ...

in 1994. In 2006, the book was reissued as ''Take Back Your Life: Recovering from Cults and Abusive Relationships''. In her book '' Twisted Scriptures: Breaking Free from Churches that Abuse'', Christian countercult author Mary Alice Chrnalogar cites ''Captive Hearts, Captive Minds'' and adds a note that the book is "excellent for former New Agers". The work is extensively cited in Dennis Tourish and

Tim Wohlforth Timothy Andrew Wohlforth (May 15, 1933 – August 23, 2019), was a United States Trotskyist leader. On leaving the Trotskyist movement he became a writer of crime fiction and of politically oriented non-fiction. As a student, Wohlforth joined ...

's '' On the Edge: Political Cults Left and Right'' in their chapter on

Marlene Dixon The Democratic Workers Party was a United States Marxist–Leninist party based in California headed by former professor Marlene Dixon, lasting from 1974–1987. One member, Janja Lalich, later became a widely cited researcher on cults. She chara ...

. Robert L. Snow cites the work in his book, '' Deadly Cults: The Crimes of True Believers'', to analyze predisposing factors that might make certain individuals more inclined than others to join cults. Snow cites Lalich and Tobias again later in his work, while discussing the experience of a woman who had been counseled by a therapist that belonged to what Snow referred to as "an intensely controlling psychoanalytical cult called the Sullivanians." ''Captive Hearts, Captive Minds'' is also cited by Philip Jenkins in his book '' Mystics and Messiahs: Cults and New Religions in American History'', in the chapter "Overrun with Messiahs", but it is not clear that he agrees with the authors' analysis. As the title would suggest, ''Captive Hearts, Captive Minds'' falls squarely within the category of books whose authors adopt

anti-cult movement The anti-cult movement (abbreviated ACM, and also known as the countercult movement) consists of various governmental and non-governmental organizations and individuals that seek to raise awareness of cults, uncover coercive practices used to a ...

theories and rhetoric concerning

new religious movements A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or t ...

, including the theory that participants in such movements are "victims" of " thought reform" or "

mind control Brainwashing (also known as mind control, menticide, coercive persuasion, thought control, thought reform, and forced re-education) is the concept that the human mind can be altered or controlled by certain psychological techniques. Brainwashi ...

". This theory is not universally accepted by psychologists and other scholars of religion. Other theories concerning

attribute

free will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to a ...

and informed choice to the participants, and challenge the captivity/abuse model put forward by the authors here.

Reception

Writing for '' Library Journal'', Bill Piekarski believes that the book "succeeds as an ambitious, comprehensive explanation of the

experience and works well on several levels". He recommended it for

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

and religious libraries. Some anti-cultists and former cult members have given positive reviews of the book. Catherine Hampton – writing for the group REVEAL, a group of former members of the

International Churches of Christ The International Churches of Christ (ICOC) is a body of co-operating, religiously conservative and racially integrated

– believes that it is a "fundamental" book of the field of cultic studies. Hampton criticizes the lack of a religious point of view, however, since she believes that that is an important element in recovery from cults. In '' Cultic Studies Journal'',

exit counselor Deprogramming is a controversial tactic that attempts to help someone who has "strongly held convictions," often coming from cults or New Religious Movements (NRM). Deprogramming aims to assist a person who holds a controversial or restrictive b ...

Carol Giambalvo agrees with Hampton, saying that Part III of the book "lacks an account by a former member of a

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts o ...

-based, discipling/shepherding group", but argues that it is generally an "extremely helpful book".

References

{{Opposition to NRMs 1994 non-fiction books Books about mind control Books by Janja Lalich Books about cults

Reception

See also

References